ISRAEL’S security cabinet has approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City, just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his intention for Israel to assume military control over the entire strip.
Netanyahu’s office revealed this in a statement issued in the early hours of Friday, August 8.
“The IDF will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones. Gaza City, in the north of the strip, is the largest city in the enclave,” the statement read.
Netanyahu said on Thursday evening, when asked on Fox News Channel whether Israel planned to take control of the entire coastal territory, “We intend to. We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body.”
He noted that Israel intended to hand the territory over to Arab forces to administer, but offered no details on the governance framework or which Arab nations might take part.
However, on Thursday evening, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem to protest the expansion of the war, calling for an immediate end to the military campaign in exchange for the release of all hostages.
In its Friday statement, Netanyahu’s office said the vast majority of security cabinet members shared that “the alternative plan presented in the cabinet would not achieve the defeat of Hamas nor the return of the hostages.”
According to Reuters, two government sources said any decision by the security cabinet would require approval from the full cabinet, which might not convene until Sunday.
One of the sources added that evacuation warnings could be issued to Palestinians in certain areas of Gaza, potentially giving them several weeks before the military advances.
It remained unclear whether Netanyahu envisioned a long-term takeover or a short-term operation. Israel has consistently stated that its goals are to dismantle Hamas and secure the release of Israeli hostages.
President Donald Trump has refused to state whether he supports or opposes a possible full military takeover of Gaza by Israel.
The ICIR reports that full control of the territory would roll back Israel’s 2005 decision to withdraw its citizens and soldiers from Gaza, while maintaining control over its borders, airspace, and utilities.
Reacting to Netanyahu’s latest position, Hamas in a statement said his comments were “a blatant coup” against the negotiation process.
“Netanyahu’s plans to expand the aggression confirm beyond any doubt that he seeks to get rid of his captives and sacrifice them.”
Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera the group would treat any force formed to govern Gaza as an ‘occupying’ force linked to Israel.
Earlier this year, Israel and the United States rejected an Egyptian proposal, backed by Arab leaders, calling for establishing an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats to govern Gaza after the war.
Opinion polls indicate that most Israelis want the war to conclude with a deal securing the release of the remaining hostages.
Netanyahu’s government has maintained its demand for total victory over Hamas, which sparked the war with a deadly attack on Israel from Gaza in October 2023.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.